Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 3,778 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 77.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,635 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,778 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $2,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Humana by 7.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,583,000 after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Humana by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 19,322 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,220,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Humana by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,502 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Humana by 75.4% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after buying an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Humana Trading Up 2.5 %

Humana stock opened at $282.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $273.92 and a 200-day moving average of $308.67. The company has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. Humana Inc. has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $415.73.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. On average, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.36%.

Insider Transactions at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of Humana stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners lowered Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.70.

Humana Company Profile

Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides medical and specialty insurance products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits.